A Love Before Time
by halcyondaze
Summary: The story has been finished...I don't really know how to describe it. Part 3 gets a little dark...so I've given you fair warning. Other than that, I hope you like the story...
1. Part 1

**_A Love Before Time_**  
By: Tsuki no Miko  


  
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and the related characters belong to AIC, Pioneer, and other people.   
  
A/n: The song "A Love Before Time" was written by someone who isn't me. I don't remember his or her name at the moment, sorry. All I know is that Coco Lee sings it, Yoyo Ma does some of the cello solos in it, and it's used in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I make no claim toward it. Also this story takes place in the Ryo-Ohki OAV.  
  
A Love Before Time: Part 1  
By: Tsuki no Miko  
  
Tenchi Masaki leaned against a tree that overlooked the lake in front of his house. He should have been on his way to school, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to move. He simply stood there and stared at the water.  
  
Maybe he was simply too exhausted to move. Or maybe there were just too many things on his mind. He kept picturing Ryoko as he more or less told her that he didn't enjoy living in her world with her. He kept picturing the look on her face when he didn't answer, when she looked as if she had been slapped in the face.  
  
Tenchi sighed, not hearing the footsteps creep up behind him.  
  
"What are you doing here, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked him loudly.  
  
The young man jumped, nearly losing his balance and falling into the water.  
  
"Ryoko, don't sneak up on me like that." He said.  
  
"Maybe if you weren't avoiding me I wouldn't have to sneak up on you." She said.  
  
"I haven't been avoiding you, Ryoko." He said. "I've just been busy."  
  
She nodded.   
  
"Of course you have. With school and everything."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Shouldn't you be heading to school, Tenchi?" She asked, wrapping her arms around him. "Or have you decided to stay home with me today?"  
  
"I, uh...I only stopped for a rest Ryoko. I should get going." He said, wriggling his way out of her grip, running toward the bus stop.  
  
Ryoko watched him go with a frown and teleported back to the house.  
  
"Where were you, Ryoko?" Aeka asked, sitting in the living room folding laundry.  
  
"Out." She said, teleporting up to the rafters.  
  
"You really should help out from time to time, Ryoko."   
  
"I'm not in the mood right now. Maybe later." She said, sipping some of her saké.  
  
Aeka simply sighed and went back to folding the laundry.  
  
  
Washu had been sitting in her lab all morning staring at her computer screens. She had detected a strange energy flux earlier that morning and she had been spending her time since then trying to locate its origin.  
  
The scientist stretched her stiff arms. She didn't need to be so tense about whatever this thing was. In fact, it was probably nothing, she reasoned. Washu got up and stretched her legs, about to go out of her lab to get something to eat when one of the alarms on one of her computers began to go off.  
  
"What the...?" Washu asked out loud, running back to her keyboard.  
  
She watched the monitors blink and then fail. Everything in her laboratory went black. Everything had simply stopped working.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" She asked, trying to bring her computers back online. "Something's interfered with the system..."  
  
She tried everything she could and nothing worked. Finally she simply took a break and walked out into the living room and sighed as she sat on a chair.  
  
"Is something wrong, Washu?" Aeka asked.  
  
Washu only nodded.  
  
"What is it, Washu?" Sasami asked.  
  
"Something's interfered with the computers in my laboratory." Washu said.  
  
"It's Hoshi." Ryoko said from the rafters.  
  
"What did you say, Ryoko?" Sasami asked her, looking up at her.  
  
"It can't be Hoshi." Washu said.  
  
"What is Hoshi?" Aeka asked.  
  
"Not what, who. He was the first man Ryoko killed under the control of Kagato. He was Kagato's enemy. They were fierce rivals at the Royal Space Academy."  
  
"But if you killed him, then it can't be him." Sasami said.  
  
"It is. I can feel it."  
  
Washu sighed.   
  
"How could he possibly interfere with my laboratory, Ryoko? Its in another dimension. Besides, I think you're just letting your imagination run away with you."  
  
Ryoko didn't say anything. She sighed audibly and turned on her side away from them.  
  
"Well...Lunch will be ready shortly, if you guys are hungry." Sasami said, walking back into the kitchen. She was followed closely by Ryo-Ohki.  
  
Washu just sat back, thinking, and sighed.  
  
  
After a long day at school, Tenchi could actually say that he was happy to be going home. The bus stopped where it always did, and once again he was the only one to get off at his stop. The young man sighed and started his long commute to his house in the middle of nowhere.  
  
Tenchi walked along the same path he always did, gazing up at the trees and the newly bloomed cherry blossoms. The spring breeze was still a little chilly, but warm enough to go without a coat and Tenchi found the atmosphere of the lane he walked upon absolutely liberating for those moments that he stayed upon the path.  
  
Suddenly, as he was staring up at the trees, he noticed a large, black shape in the sky.  
  
"Oh, no...not another one..." He said under his breath, picking up his pace.  
  
When Tenchi finally got to the house he found the shape gone. It was as if he had been seeing things. He shrugged it off as a school induced hallucination and walked into the house.  
  
"I'm home!" He said, removing his shoes and putting on his house slippers.  
  
No one answered him.  
  
"Hello? Are you guys here?" Tenchi asked, systematically searching through the rooms.  
  
After Tenchi had searched the house, he sighed and sat on the couch.  
  
"Where could they be?" He asked himself. "I bet they're at Washu's."   
  
Tenchi stood up again and went to the closet door under the stairs and knocked. No one answered, but the door opened on its own.  
  
"Little Washu? Are you in here?" He asked, walking further into the laboratory. It was completely black.  
  
"Tenchi?" He heard a faint voice call to him from the darkness.  
  
"Who's there? Little Washu?" He asked, trying to make his way through the laboratory.  
  
"Tenchi, no! Don't move!" He heard someone shout at him.  
  
He froze in his path.  
  
"Why can't I move?" He asked, doing his best to stand completely still.  
  
"If you take one more step you'll trip a laser that will most likely cut you in half." Someone explained...it was Washu.  
  
"Little Washu, what's going on here?" Tenchi asked, looking around the laboratory. "Aeka? Sasami? Mihoshi? Are you three all right?"   
  
Tenchi saw the three girls tied up and suspended upside down from one of Washu's inventions.   
  
"Washu, what happened?" He asked her again.  
  
"Be quiet Tenchi." Washu said, disconnecting the laser.  
  
When she was finished she stood up and went over to help the others.  
  
"We were attacked."  
  
"What? How? By who?" Tenchi asked, helping Sasami down and untying her.  
  
"Hoshi Aiko." Washu said, finally untying Aeka.  
  
"Hoshi Aiko? Who's that?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"He's the man who attacked us."   
  
"Where's Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, looking around, noticing her absence.  
  
"She followed him." Sasami said.  
  
Washu nodded.   
  
"Who is this person?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"He was in the Royal Space Academy when I taught there. He was a pupil of Kagato's. Once Kagato gained control of me and of Ryoko he had her destroy him...or at least she thought she destroyed him."  
  
"But why would he come here?" Mihoshi asked.  
  
"To get his revenge."   
  
"On Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"Maybe...or on me for creating her. I don't know."  
  
"That means Ryoko is in trouble..."  
  
"She can take care of herself for now, Tenchi. All we can do is wait for her to come back. Hopefully she'll bring him back with her and we can find out what's going on here."  
  
Tenchi sighed.  
  
"Well, there's nothing we can do now." Aeka said, moving toward the door.  
  
"Yeah...I might as well get dinner started." Sasami said.  
  
"I'll help you, Sasami." Mihoshi said, following the girl.  
  
"You might as well go too, Tenchi. Nothing can be done until Ryoko gets back." Washu said.  
  
"Do you need some help in here, Washu?" Tenchi asked, looking around at the ruined machinery.  
  
"No, I've got it Tenchi." She said, shooing him out of the lab.  
  
Tenchi walked out of the laboratory and sat in the living room and turned on the TV. Washu said there wasn't really anything else he could do so he sat there, looking at the TV screen.   
  
"Tenchi? Why are you watching a kids' show?" Sasami asked from the kitchen, noticing him staring blankly at the TV.  
  
"What?" He asked, distracted.  
  
"Never mind Tenchi."  
  
Tenchi nodded and turned back to the TV once again not really seeing the images projected in front of him. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about Ryoko. How that guy Hoshi could get into Washu's lab he could easily damage Ryo-Ohki and prevent Ryoko from getting back...or worse.   
  
He shook his head and leaned against the back of the couch and started to fall asleep when there was suddenly a loud explosion and the entire house shook violently.  
  
"What was that!?" Tenchi shouted, surprised.  
  
"It was Ryo-Ohki and another ship!" Sasami said, running out of the kitchen.  
  
Everyone ran out to the front of the house to find Ryoko lying unconscious on the ground, Ryo-Ohki crashed into the lake, and a boy with a laser sword help over Ryoko, ready to decapitate her.  
  
"Don't move!" Mihoshi said, aiming her Galaxy Police blaster at the boy. "Put the sword down."  
  
"You fool, don't you know who this is!?" The boy asked.  
  
Mihoshi didn't answer. Of course she knew who it was...  
  
"This is the most vicious space pirate in all of the universe! I'll be doing a favor to every living organism if I eradicate her now."  
  
"Get away from her, now!" Tenchi shouted, grasping the Tenchi-ken in his fist.  
  
"That sword...That sword belongs to the Crown Prince of Jurai. What have you done with him?" The boy shouted, advancing on Tenchi.  
  
Before the boy reached Tenchi, Ryoko sprang up and held onto him.  
  
"Don't move, Hoshi." She shouted.  
  
"That's Hoshi!?" Everyone asked.  
  
Ryoko nodded.  
  
"What do you want with Ryoko?" Tenchi asked him.  
  
"To kill her."  
  
"Oh, yeah...fat chance of that happening." Ryoko said, pulling the boy's arms further behind him.  
  
"Let him go, Ryoko." Washu said, walking up behind Tenchi.  
  
"Are you crazy?"  
  
"I told you already, Professor Washu...I'm not going to spare her because she is your creation."  
  
"Yes, you will. As long as you're here you will." Washu answered him. "Now let him go, Ryoko."  
  
Ryoko suddenly let go of his arms causing him to fly forward into Tenchi. The two glared at one another.  
  
"Come with me, Hoshi." Washu said, pulling the boy away from the others and taking him inside to her laboratory. Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi went back inside soon after them.  
  
"Are you all right, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, walking up to her.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"What happened?" Tenchi asked, looking out toward the lake where Ryo-Ohki had crashed.  
  
"The bastard rammed his ship into Ryo-Ohki." Ryoko said, picking up the small cabbit who had managed to swim her way to shore.  
  
"Is she all right?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"She's fine." Ryoko said, petting Ryo-Ohki.  
  
Tenchi nodded.  
  
"Um, Ryoko?"   
  
"Yeah, Tenchi?" She asked, walking toward the house.  
  
"Tenchi! Ryoko! Dinner's ready!" Sasami shouted to them.  
  
"All right Sasami." Tenchi called back.  
  
"What did you want to say, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"Oh, uh, never mind. Come on, Ryoko, dinner's ready."  
  
Ryoko watched him walk into the house and slowly followed him inside.  
  


If the sky opened up for me,  
And the mountains disappeared,  
If the seas run dry, turned to dust  
And the sun refused to rise  
I would still find my way,  
By the light l see in your eyes.  
  


After everyone had finished dinner, they sat silently in the living room until Washu dragged Hoshi out of the laboratory.  
  
"Washu, why haven't you turned him into some sort of insect yet?" Ryoko grumbled.  
  
"I was simply explaining the situation to him. He'll be leaving as soon as I can repair his ship."  
  
"Good." Ryoko said.  
  
"How long will that be?" Tenchi asked, trying not to sound as if he was in a hurry to get rid of the guy.  
  
"I don't know yet. Probably about a week. Maybe more, maybe less."  
  
"Get to work then, Washu." Ryoko said.  
  
Washu ignored her and sat down.  
  
"I saved some of dinner for you, Washu." Sasami said, getting up to get it.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Sasami. I'm not that hungry right now. I'll get it later, OK?"  
  
Sasami nodded.  
  
"You still never answered me about the sword." Hoshi said to Tenchi.  
  
"That's probably because its none of your business." Ryoko snapped.  
  
"Anything concerning the Jurain Royal Family is my business."  
  
"How?" Aeka asked.  
  
"I'm have been a protector of the Royal Family for many years."  
  
"We've never seen you." Sasami said.  
  
"Why would you have seen me?" Hoshi asked.  
  
"Aeka and Sasami are Princesses of Jurai." Mihoshi explained.  
  
Hoshi looked confused.  
  
"Aeka and Sasami? I've never heard of Aeka and Sasami. Prince Azusa is the heir to the throne and he chose his wife from this planet...Lady Funaho." Hoshi explained.  
  
"What rock have you been living under?" Ryoko scoffed.  
  
"Lady Funaho is the Queen of Jurai. She's our aunt. Azusa is our father." Aeka explained.  
  
Hoshi shook his head.  
  
"That's not possible."  
  
Aeka and Sasami looked at one another.  
  
"Obviously it is. The Crown Prince of Jurai now is Yosho, although he refuses to go back to Jurai, so that basically leaves Tenchi here." Washu explained.  
  
"You are the Crown Prince of Jurai?"  
  
Tenchi nodded nervously.  
  
"Why don't you remember Asuza being crowned Emperor?" Ryoko asked.  
  
Hoshi shrugged.  
  
"Your attack on him was almost a hundred years before he was crowned emperor, Ryoko. That's probably why."  
  
"So you're saying he's had amnesia for over fifteen hundred years?"  
  
"No, he's been dead for over fifteen hundred years."  
  
"What?" Everyone asked at once, Hoshi included.  
  
"I couldn't have been dead. I remember Ryoko's attack on me and I remember barely escaping from her..."  
  
"You didn't escape from her."   
  
"Washu, is this some sort of joke?" Ryoko asked.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not Ryoko. Hoshi has been dead for the past fifteen hundred years, or at least in a near-dead state. That explains his missing memory. He must have been awakened by something and he automatically sought revenge." Washu explained.  
  
"This is crazy." Ryoko said, teleporting out of the house.  
  
"Ryoko, its the truth." Washu said silently.  
  
Tenchi sighed and eventually everyone went to bed but Tenchi found himself unable to sleep. He walked out on the back porch and looked out over the lake. It was cold, but a crisp spring cold that let everyone know that it would be warming up soon enough.  
  
Ryoko hadn't come back, but Tenchi had a good idea of where she was hiding and carried the ladder to the side of the house and began climbing. Sure enough, Ryoko was sitting on the roof gazing at the stars and sipping warm saké.  
  
"What are you doing up here, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked, never taking her eyes away from the sky.  
  
"I came looking for you. Its cold out here, you know. You should go back inside." He said, sitting next to her.  
  
"Why do you care about whether I'm cold or not?" She asked him. "I'm just a murderer anyway. A toy that anyone can play with if they have the right remote control."  
  
"What are you talking about, Ryoko?"   
  
"These." She said, showing him her wrist. "These things are supposed to give me as much power as I desire, but as soon as I have that power, anyone can come along and control me and use me as some little puppet."  
  
Tenchi didn't say anything.  
  
"I'm not even allowed to have a mind of my own. Someone always does my thinking for me. You know what Tenchi?"   
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't even know if my feelings for you are my own. I don't know what that would feel like. I feel like I've never experienced independent thought before." She said.  
  
Tenchi couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. One thing he did know was that she was drunk...very drunk.  
  
"That's not true, Ryoko. Everything you say and do is of your own doing, now. There's no one left to control you. There's only you."  
  
"And Washu...and even that bratty kid."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Nothing, never mind. I'm going to bed."  
  
"Ryoko, wait."  
  
"For what, Tenchi? Are you going to take the opportunity to tell me how much you've always loved me? How much you care for me and that you can't imagine your life without me? Are you going to tell me that you think I'm being foolish for saying what I just said?" She asked.  
  
Tenchi didn't say anything, he only swallowed nervously.  
  
"That's what I thought. I'll never hear you say those things. Do you know why, Tenchi? Because I'm not worth it."  
  
Ryoko picked up the bottle of saké and finished it off and then teleported through the roof to her rafter.  
  
Tenchi stayed where he was, unable to move. He stayed there, wrapped in the blanket Ryoko had left until the sun came up.  
  


The world I know fades away  
But you stay.  
As the earth reclaims its due,  
And the cycle starts anew,  
We'll stay, always  
In the love that we have shared  
Before time.  
  


===========  
~End Part 1~   
  
Coming Soon:  
A Love Before Time: Part 2  
  
  
  



	2. Part 2

**_A Love Before Time_**  
By: Tsuki no Miko  


  
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and the related characters belong to AIC, Pioneer, and other people.   
  
A/n: Another story by me...aren't you all just so happy? I know you are. Anyway, who knows when this part will be out...It took me over a week to write the first part. I'll try not to make it too long between parts.  
  
A Love Before Time: Part 2  
By: Tsuki no Miko  
  
"Where's Tenchi?" Sasami asked, giving everyone else their breakfast.  
  
"I don't know, Sasami. I haven't seen him all morning." Aeka asked.  
  
"Isn't he in his room?" Nobuyuki, Tenchi's father, asked.  
  
"No, I went up there to wake up before breakfast and he wasn't there."  
  
"Maybe he went out to the fields early." Mihoshi suggested.  
  
"No, I sent Ryo-Ohki out to look for him. He wasn't out there either. Do you know where he could be, Ryoko?"  
  
There was no reply from the far end of the table.  
  
"Ryoko?" Sasami asked a little louder.  
  
"Shhh, I haven't seen Tenchi since last night." Ryoko said, trying to ignore the pounding of her head.  
  
"Do you have another hangover, Ryoko?" Aeka asked.  
  
"What do you think?" Ryoko snapped back.  
  
"I have something I could give you for that." Washu said, eating some rice.  
  
"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want anything that will turn me into anything else or knock me unconscious for five years." Ryoko said.  
  
"Fine, suit yourself."  
  
"I have something that might work." Hoshi spoke up.   
  
Nobody but Washu and Sasami had noticed that he was even at the table.  
  
"No thanks. I don't want anything from you. It would probably be poisoned."  
  
"There's something I didn't think of." He said, sarcastically, eating the food Sasami placed in front of him.  
  
"I wish I knew where Tenchi was." Sasami said. "His breakfast is getting cold."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about him, Sasami. He'll show up." Washu said.  
  
Sasami only nodded and sighed as she sat down to eat breakfast herself.  
  
"How's it coming with his ship?" Ryoko asked Washu.  
  
"I only just started on it, Ryoko." Washu said.  
  
"So how long will it take to fix?"   
  
"I don't know, about two days. Three at the most."  
  
Ryoko only nodded and drank some tea.  
  
Just then everyone started to hear noises coming from the roof.  
  
"What was that?" Mihoshi asked, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"I don't know, it sounds like something's on the roof." Aeka answered.  
  
  
Up on the roof of the Masaki home, Tenchi woke up, surprised that he hadn't rolled off and broken every bone in his body.   
  
He stood up carefully and walked over to where he left the ladder, which was now gone.  
  
"This is just great...how am I supposed to get down now?" He asked himself, looking down at the ground.  
  
"Ryoko! Aeka! Somebody!" He started shouting.  
  
  
"Did you guys here that?" Mihoshi asked.   
  
"Yeah, it sounded like Tenchi." Sasami said. "It sounded like he was outside."  
  
"Hmm." Aeka said, getting up and walking out into the front yard.  
  
"Is he out there, Aeka?" Sasami asked.  
  
"I don't see him."  
  
"Aeka!" Tenchi called to her from the roof.  
  
"Lord Tenchi? What are you doing up there?" She asked, shielding her eyes from the morning sun.  
  
"Its a long story. Could you get the ladder for me please?" He asked.  
  
Once Tenchi was back on solid ground, Aeka and Sasami looked at him.  
  
"Were you up there all night, Tenchi?" Sasami asked.  
  
"Yeah. I must have fallen asleep. What time is it?"  
  
"Its eight-thirty, Tenchi."   
  
"Why were you up there at all, Lord Tenchi?" Aeka asked.  
  
"Just watching the stars." He said, glancing toward the house to see Ryoko standing at the door.  
  
"You're lucky you didn't fall off, Tenchi!" Sasami said.  
  
"Yeah." Was all he said. When he turned back to the door, Ryoko was gone.  
  
"Well, let's go inside. Breakfast will get cold." Sasami said, pulling Tenchi into the house after her.  
  
Nobody was left at the table when they came back inside. In fact, no one could be found anywhere on the bottom floor of the house.  
  
"Where did everyone go to?" Sasami asked, sitting down to finished her breakfast.  
  
"I don't know. Washu probably went off to her lab again and Ryoko's probably lying around someplace sleeping off her hangover and Mihoshi probably went out on patrol." Aeka said, sitting down as well.  
  
Eventually all three of them finished their breakfast.  
  
"Well, I better get to work." Tenchi said, standing up.  
  
"Have a good day, Tenchi." Sasami said, clearing the table. "Aeka, come help me, please?"   
  
"Oh, of course, Sasami."  
  
  
Ryoko watched Tenchi walk toward the fields from behind a tree in the woods. She felt ridiculous and foolish, almost as bad as the time when she tried to get Tenchi by reading Nobuyuki's shoujo manga, but not quite.   
  
The night before she had been drunk. REALLY drunk. Usually she didn't remember things that happened when she got that inebriated, but for some reason she remembered every word that she said to Tenchi and she couldn't bring herself to be near him.  
  
"This is how the most feared space pirate in all the universe spends her day? Hiding behind a tree?"  
  
Ryoko spun around quickly. A little too quickly as her headache let her know soon enough.  
  
"Are you following me now, Hoshi?" She asked.  
  
"Why would I do a thing like that? I just happened by and I saw you cowering behind the tree and I thought I'd say hello."  
  
"Go away."  
  
"Why? So you can gawk at Tenchi in private? Do you think he feels the same way about you?"  
  
"I thought I told you to go away."  
  
"You did, but I haven't."  
  
"What do you want from me?"  
  
Hoshi stepped in close to her.  
  
"I want you to come with me, Ryoko." He said quietly.  
  
"Why would I want to do anything like that?"  
  
Hoshi stared intently at her with his pale eyes. She couldn't look away from him.  
  
"Because you're not wanted here, Ryoko. You've always known it. You know that Tenchi doesn't love you. You know that Aeka and Sasami despise you for what you did to Jurai all those years ago. I don't think even Washu can stand you anymore." He said, never breaking his gaze.  
  
Ryoko didn't say anything. She wanted to strike the bastard down where he stood, but she couldn't move. He wasn't controlling her gems but yet she couldn't control her own actions.  
  
"What's wrong, Ryoko? You know that I'm telling the truth?"  
  
"Shut-up." She said, finding it a massive struggle to even get the words out of her mouth.  
  
Hoshi shook his head and laughed to himself.   
  
"Come on, Ryoko! You know that no one could ever love something like you. Something not even human."  
  
"SHUT UP!" She screamed, throwing her fist at him with all of her strength.  
  
She ended up hitting a tree, causing it to fall.   
  
"Ryoko, what happened here? I heard you scream and..." Tenchi said, running up to her after hearing all the commotion.   
  
Ryoko looked around. Hoshi was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Ryoko, what happened?" Tenchi asked again. "Are you all right?" He asked, taking her hand.  
  
"Tenchi, what are you doing?" She asked him, watching him inspect her hand.  
  
"You're bleeding. I wanted to be sure you were all right."  
  
"Bleeding?" Ryoko repeated, just noticing the blood on her hand.  
  
"What did you go, Ryoko? Are you going to tell me what happened?"  
  
"It was nothing, Tenchi. Stop worrying about it. You have things to do." She said, stepping away from him and nearly tripping over part of the fallen tree.  
  
"Watch out, Ryoko." Tenchi said, catching her. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Nothing, I'm fine." She said, stepping out of his grasp again and walking away from him.  
  
What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly tripping over herself? And she was bleeding from punching a tree trunk? She could take punches for hours without anything drawing blood.  
  
  
Tenchi stood where Ryoko had left him and watched her walk off. He looked at the tree and sighed. Something obviously happened. Ryoko doesn't usually fly around punching out trees.  
  
The boy only sighed and started back toward the fields. There was nothing he could do about it, she had been avoiding him all morning. And when she did stay around him long enough for them to communicate she acted strangely. He shrugged it off. Maybe Ryoko was just being Ryoko again.  
  
"Good morning, Tenchi."   
  
Tenchi spun around quickly.  
  
"What are you doing here, Hoshi? Shouldn't you be helping Washu fix your ship? I mean, it is YOUR ship."  
  
"She kicked me out of the lab. Need any help?"   
  
"No, I'm fine." Tenchi said, continuing his walk to the fields.  
  
"I saw Ryoko just leave here." Hoshi said, following him.  
  
"Yes, I know." Tenchi said, absently.  
  
"Do you know why she's taken to beating up defenseless trees?"  
  
"Something must've happened..."  
  
"Or maybe she's just losing it." Hoshi said.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm just saying, maybe her warrantee is running low or something. I mean, she IS two thousand years old. Maybe she's just losing it, you know, up here." Hoshi said, pointing to his head.  
  
"Don't be crazy."  
  
"I'm not. I mean, she's punching trees, what's next? If she loses it, who could stop her? She could destroy the entire universe if she wanted to."  
  
"And she doesn't."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
Tenchi didn't answer him, he simply walked away.  
  
  
Hoshi grinned to himself as he teleported back to the house. This was going to be too simple. He'd have Ryoko right where he wanted her and from there it was only a matter of time before he got the Princesses, Washu, and the others. Their energy would feed his forever...  
  
"Hoshi, where have you been?" Washu asked, grabbing him by the neck and dragging him into her laboratory.  
  
"I'm not doing this so you can go frolicking in the forest. You're supposed to be helping me." She scolded him.  
  
"Sorry. I had some things I needed to take care of."  
  
Washu was already working, not listening to anything he had to say.  
  
"Hey, Washu...can I talk to you for a minute?" Ryoko asked from the door.  
  
"What is it, Ryoko?" She asked, continuing her work.  
  
Hoshi dropped a can of adhesive calling Ryoko's attention to him.  
  
"Nevermind. I'll talk to you about it later." Ryoko said, closing the door before she even finished her sentence.  
  
"I wonder what that was about..." Hoshi asked innocently.  
  
"She didn't want to talk around you." Washu said, matter-of-factly.  
  
"I don't understand why."  
  
"Because she doesn't like you."   
  
Hoshi glared at Washu. She was not making this easy.  
  
"What exactly do you need my help for?" Hoshi asked.  
  
"I will eventually and I don't want to have to go looking for you when I do so just stay there."  
  
Hoshi sighed.  
  
  
Sasami sat in the living room watching TV. She decided that lunch today was just going to be simple so there was no need for her to spend all her time in there. Mihoshi had come back from her five minute patrol hours ago and was sleeping on the couch behind her.  
  
"Hey Sasami." Ryoko said wearily, falling back into one of the chairs.  
  
"What's wrong, Ryoko? You look tired."  
  
"I don't know. I just suddenly feel so drained. I can barely move."  
  
"Its probably your hangover still giving you trouble." Aeka said walking into the living room from her bath.  
  
"No, its not." Ryoko said, too tired to argue. "I just suddenly don't want to move."  
  
"Maybe you have the same problem Mihoshi does." Aeka said, pointing to the sleeping Galaxy Police woman.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko, what happened to your hand?" Sasami asked, pointing to the cuts.  
  
"It was nothing." She said, covering her hand quickly.  
  
"Did you see Tenchi out there? Is he coming home for lunch soon?"  
  
"I'm sure he's coming home for lunch, Sasami. Nobody would ever miss one of your meals." Aeka said, sitting down in another of the chairs.  
  
"Has anyone seen Washu today? I mean, after breakfast."  
  
"I was just in her lab. She's still working on that...on Hoshi's ship." Ryoko said.  
  
"Hey, Aeka, do you think its true that Hoshi actually used to work for Father?" Sasami asked.  
  
"I really don't know, Sasami. I suppose we could ask Azaka and Kamidake. They would know, most likely."   
  
"He's probably lying. He probably could only find The History Of Jurai volumes 1 through 200 and he faked all the rest."  
  
Sasami giggled.  
  
"You're so suspicious of everyone, Ryoko." Aeka said.  
  
"Shouldn't I be? And what was with Tenchi this morning?"  
  
"He slept on the roof, Ryoko. He's starting to act like you."  
  
"Where was the ladder? Why didn't he get down that way?" Ryoko asked, remembering Aeka having to get the ladder for him.  
  
"It was on the other side of the yard. Someone must have moved it without realizing that Tenchi was on the roof." Sasami said.  
  
Ryoko didn't say anything, she just sighed.  
  
"I'm home." Tenchi shouted, causing all the girls to jump at once.  
  
"You're back early, Tenchi. I haven't even started lunch yet." Sasami said.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Sasami. There wasn't much for me to do out in the fields today so I figured that I would come back early and see what everyone does while I'm not here."  
  
"Pretty much what we do when you are here, Tenchi." Sasami said.  
  
"How's your hand, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked her.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Ryoko, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tenchi asked.  
  
Ryoko nodded and got up and followed him into Sasami and Aeka's room. The closest room.  
  
"What is it, Tenchi?"  
  
"Are you feeling all right, Ryoko?"  
  
"What? I'm feeling fine, I'm just a little tired, that's all. Why?"  
  
"Its just that...that thing with the tree earlier."  
  
"Again with the tree?"  
  
"Well, what happened?"  
  
"I thought I saw someone...but they left before I could hit them and I ended up hitting the tree."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Just someone I remembered from my past."  
  
"Someone dangerous?"  
  
"Is there anyone who's not dangerous from my past, Tenchi?"  
  
He didn't answer that question.  
  
"So you think I'm going crazy, huh Tenchi?"  
  
"No, of course not. I was just wondering if there was something you weren't telling me."  
  
"Well, there isn't, Tenchi. And I'm not going crazy either. Are you afraid that I'm going to blow up the planet or something?"  
  
"Ryoko, don't be like this."  
  
"Like what? I'm asking a simple question."  
  
"Of course I don't think you're going to blow up the planet. That's ridiculous."  
  
"But you do know that I could if I wanted to?"  
  
Tenchi nodded.  
  
"But I don't want to."  
  
"Good." He said.  
  
"Is that all, Tenchi?" She asked.  
  
He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it quickly.  
  
"That's all, Ryoko. Are you feeling all right? You look tired."  
  
"Its nothing. I just think I used too much energy hitting that tree." She smiled lazily.  
  
Tenchi didn't say anything as he followed her back into the living room.  
  
Suddenly she started falling forward.  
  
"Ryoko! What's wrong?" He asked as he caught her.  
  
"Tenchi, what's wrong?" Aeka and Sasami asked, running up behind him.  
  
"I don't know. Help me get her on the couch."   
  
"But Mihoshi's there." Sasami said.  
  
"Wake her up, Sasami." Aeka said, helping Tenchi with Ryoko.  
  
"Mihoshi! Mihoshi, wake up!" Sasami said as she shook her awake.  
  
"What's going on?" Mihoshi asked sleepily. "What's wrong with Ryoko?"  
  
"Move it, Mihoshi." Aeka said.   
  
"We need to lie her down." Tenchi explained.  
  
Mihoshi jumped off the couch as Tenchi and Aeka laid Ryoko down on the couch.  
  
"Ryoko? Are you OK?" Tenchi asked, kneeling beside her.  
  
"Ten...chi..." She said weakly.  
  
"What's wrong with her, Tenchi?" Sasami asked.  
  
"I don't know. Someone go get Washu."  
  
"I'll go." Mihoshi said, running off toward Washu's lab.  
  
"Hang on, Ryoko. Hang on..."  
  


If the years take away  
Every memory that I have  
I would still know the way   
That would lead me back to your side.  
The North star may die  
But the light that I see in your eyes  
Will burn there always  
Lit by the love we have shared  
Before time.  


  
===========  
~End Part 2~  
  
Coming Soon:  
A Love Before Time: Part 3  
  
A/n: Sorry for stopping at such an evil place, but I have to keep you all interested somehow. ^_^  
  



	3. Part 3

**_A Love Before Time_**  
By: Tsuki no Miko  


  
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and the related characters belong to AIC, Pioneer, and other people.   
  
A/n: The rating I put on here won't need explaination once you read the story, but it bothers me a little posting a R-rated fic on here, its simply for the subject matter. I felt that needed explaining...Enjoy the story.  
  
A Love Before Time: Part 3  
By: Tsuki no Miko  
  
"You should have come with me when I asked you to, Ryoko."  
  
"What? Hoshi? What the hell are you doing here?" Ryoko asked frantically looking at her surroundings. "What is this place?"  
  
"What does that matter? I have you where I want you, for now."   
  
"You think you can hold me here?"  
  
"I know I can. And soon all of your energy will be mine."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Once I get rid of the boy...you'll have no energy left."  
  
"The boy? Tenchi? You keep your paws off of him."  
  
Hoshi laughed.  
  
"Who's going to stop me? You? You can't even move, can you, Ryoko? Once Tenchi's out of the picture you'll have nothing to direct your energy at and it will be mine. Of course, don't get me wrong. You're not the only one, but its just so much more fun having you go first."  
  
"No, leave him alone!" Ryoko screamed, trying to advance on him, finding herself unable to move.  
  
"Keep trying Ryoko..." Hoshi taunted as he was fading into the darkness behind him.  
  
"Leave him alone!" She shouted as she heard the sound of thunder.  
  
She sat straight up suddenly.  
  
"Ryoko, are you all right?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"Tenchi? Are you OK?" She asked him, making sure that he wasn't bleeding or anything.  
  
"I'm fine, Ryoko. It's you we were all worried about." He explained.  
  
It was then that Ryoko noticed Sasami, Aeka, Mihoshi, and Washu staring directly at her.  
  
"What...happened?" She asked.  
  
"You passed out, Ryoko." Washu explained.  
  
"From what?"  
  
"I don't know yet. You should just lie there for a while though. Just rest."  
  
"I'll go get you some tea, Ryoko." Sasami said, leaving for the kitchen.  
  
"You have to get Hoshi out of her." Ryoko said, leaning back on the couch.  
  
"What are you talking about, Ryoko?" Washu asked her, typing furiously on her holo-laptop.  
  
"He did this to me."  
  
"He was in the lab with me, Ryoko. He couldn't have done anything to you."  
  
"No, earlier this morning. Out near the fields."  
  
"Is that who you saw this morning, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked her.  
  
Ryoko nodded.  
  
"What did he do?"  
  
"I don't know. I couldn't move...he said that he wanted me to leave with him. He said that I wasn't wanted here..."  
  
"Ryoko, you know that's not true." Tenchi interrupted before she could finish.  
  
Ryoko didn't even look at him, she simply continued.  
  
"I saw him in a dream...He said that he was after Tenchi. He said he was going after everyone's energy, that the energy we put into loving Tenchi will sustain him forever."  
  
"That's how he remained alive..." Washu said, thinking aloud.  
  
"What, Little Washu?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"When Ryoko attacked him, he absorbed the energy of her attack, but it the energy wouldn't sustain him for long so he put himself into a coma and slowly used the energy from the attack. Once he was rejuvenated enough, he came out of the coma and immediately sought more energy. That's how he was able to find you, Ryoko. Since it was your energy that sustained him for so long, he obviously wants more. As for Tenchi...his energy is much greater and could easily sustain him for even longer.   
  
"With everyone else's energy, he could easily make himself immortal. This morning, Ryoko, was he drawing power from your gems?"  
  
"No...I can't explain it. I couldn't move, but I wanted to."  
  
Washu nodded.  
  
"What does that mean?" Mihoshi asked.  
  
"That means that Hoshi wasn't controlling her gems. If he had been, she wouldn't have had free thought. When someone controls Ryoko's gems from an outside source, she loses her identity as Ryoko and simply becomes a machine."  
  
"How awful..." Mihoshi said, quietly.  
  
"Either way, stopping Hoshi may be difficult. Especially since he absorbs the energy thrown at him."  
  
"How would we stop him then, Miss Washu?" Aeka asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, but there has to be a way to manipulate the energy so he can't absorb it."  
  
"Why not just use too much energy for him to absorb?" Mihoshi asked.  
  
Everyone turned to look at her.  
  
"I always knew you were a genius, Mihoshi." Washu said.  
  
"Could that work, Washu?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"In theory, yes. If enough energy was combined, he couldn't be able to absorb it fast enough for it to give him more energy and it could possibly destroy him."  
  
"Well, shouldn't we do something about him until you figure out how to do this? He is in your lab, Washu." Ryoko said.  
  
"I'll just work on it...there's nothing we can do about him."  
  
"Why not just combine Ryoko, Tenchi, and Aeka's power?" Mihoshi asked.  
  
"Did you take a smart pill this morning, Mihoshi?" Washu asked.  
  
"Did you take a dumb pill this morning, Washu? You should be thinking up this stuff."  
  
"Shut up, Ryoko."  
  
"Will that work, Miss Washu?" Aeka asked.  
  
"It just might."  
  
"But if he can easily absorb Ryoko's power, who's to say that he couldn't absorb ours just as easily?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"Tenchi, you can generate one of the greatest powers in the universe. That alone might be enough, but with Ryoko and Aeka's help it should easily destroy him."  
  
"Destroy who?"   
  
Everyone turned around.  
  
"So you've figured it out finally?" Hoshi asked, standing in the hall. "I was starting to wonder when it would sink in with you people."  
  
"Shut-up, you bastard." Ryoko said, starting to get up.  
  
"No, Ryoko. You're too weak. You wouldn't stand a chance against him like this."  
  
"She wouldn't stand a chance against me anyway. Would you, Ryoko?"  
  
Ryoko didn't move. She couldn't. Somehow Hoshi had locked her in place again and she couldn't fight it. She could only feel her energy slip away from her as she started to fall again. Tenchi quickly caught her.  
  
"What the hell are you doing to her!?" Tenchi shouted, lying Ryoko on the couch again.  
  
"What I will soon do to you boy." Hoshi sneered. "So you can generate the Light Hawk Wings, eh? I knew there was something about you. Your energy alone could sustain me for eternity."  
  
"I will destroy you." Tenchi said, kneeling next to Ryoko, keeping his eyes locked on Hoshi.  
  
"Oh, well, we'll see about that, won't we?" Hoshi snapped his fingers and suddenly a large ship fell out of subspace. "In the mean time, I'll take her with me and we'll see who shall destroy whom."   
  
Hoshi snapped his fingers again and he and Ryoko vanished.  
  
"Damn him." Tenchi shouted.  
  
"Now what do we do, Washu?" Aeka asked, turning to Washu.   
  
She was gone.  
  
"Her lab." Tenchi said, looking over at Aeka.  
  
They all got up and went into Washu's lab.  
  
"What are we going to do now, Little Washu?" Tenchi asked, seeing Washu standing over one of her computers with her back to the rest of the group.  
  
"Washu?" Aeka asked, trying to get her attention.  
  
When Washu finally did turn toward them, she had shed her childlike disguise.  
  
"Miss Washu..." Aeka said, astounded.  
  
"We're going to get her." Washu said.  
  
  
Ryoko awoke in a strange ship. No one was around her and from what she could tell, nothing was keeping her there, but how did she get there? She tried to sit up, only to find herself slammed back down on the floor.  
  
"Well, well...it's about time you woke up, Ryoko." She heard a voice say.  
  
Finally, Hoshi's form appeared over her.  
  
"What have you done?" Ryoko asked, fighting the pain in her back.  
  
"I have simply brought you to my ship." He said, waving his hand.  
  
Ryoko felt the pressure lift from her and she was able to stand up, though barely.  
  
"What did you do with Tenchi?"  
  
"He's fine, don't worry about him. I left him on Earth. I'm sure he'll try to come for you though." Hoshi said, stepping in closer to her.  
  
"You think he's going to waste his time coming here for me?"  
  
"Of course he will. Fools in love are them most predictable fools in the universe."  
  
Ryoko forced a harsh laugh.  
  
"You actually think he's in love with me?"   
  
Hoshi shook his head.  
  
"You're in love with him, aren't you? Are you that stupid not to see it in his eyes, Ryoko?"  
  
Ryoko readied herself to fight, but found herself unable to move.  
  
"Look at me, Ryoko." Hoshi said, bringing her face closer to his. "To think that a demon could look like an angel."   
  
Ryoko tried to move away or even look away but somehow he kept her eyes locked on his.  
  
"You're so beautiful, Ryoko. How can you think that a man couldn't be in love with you?" He said, kissing her.  
  
As much as Ryoko tried she couldn't fight him. He had a control over her that no one had before. Was it possible she didn't want to move? Or had Hoshi found a way to manipulate the energy he received from her to use against her? No matter what the case was, Ryoko tried desperately to get away.  
  
"What's wrong, Ryoko?" Hoshi asked, pulling her even closer to him.  
  
Their bodies were pressed closely together, Ryoko's mind fighting any more control that Hoshi was trying to gain as his hands searched her body, tearing off her clothes. Her mind screamed for help, knowing that no one could hear her.  
  
  
"Can you tell where she is, Miss Washu?" Tenchi asked, not sure whether he could really call Washu "little" anymore.  
  
"No, but if we take Ryo-Ohki Hoshi's ship will be easy enough to spot."  
  
"Don't we need Ryoko to defeat him, Washu? She'll be too weak." Aeka said.  
  
"Don't worry about that, Aeka." Washu said, leaving her lab to find Sasami and Ryo-Ohki.  
  
Aeka and Tenchi only exchanged looks and followed her.  
  
"Miss...Washu?" Sasami and Mihoshi asked simultaneously.  
  
"Mihoshi, stay with Sasami please." Aeka said.  
  
"Sure, Aeka." Mihoshi said.  
  
"Are you going after Ryoko?" Sasami asked.  
  
Aeka nodded.  
  
"Good luck." Mihoshi said.  
  
"Thanks, Mihoshi." Tenchi said as they walked out of the house. "Come on, Ryo-Ohki."  
  
Ryo-Ohki leapt from Sasami's shoulder onto Tenchi's as he walked out of the house.  
  
Once they were onboard Ryo-Ohki, Washu took the controls and they flew into space.  
  
"Where do we go?" Aeka asked.  
  
"Ryo-Ohki, do you sense any other ships in the area?" Washu asked.  
  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki responded.  
  
Tenchi and Aeka looked at Washu for a translation.  
  
"Well, what did she say?"   
  
"She said that there's one somewhere around Jupiter."  
  
"Then let's go."  
  
Washu nodded.  
  
"Let's go, Ryo-Ohki."  
  
  
"They're coming for you." Hoshi said, glancing at Ryoko's naked form on the cold floor of the bridge of his ship.  
  
Ryoko still couldn't move. Hoshi knew that the moment she could move of her own free will again, she'd lop of his head and he'd be a goner, no matter how much energy he could absorb. He could almost feel the anger radiating off of her body. That just made the whole thing worth while.  
  
"I told you that he would come for you. A true man would always risk his life for the ones he loves. Either that or he'd just feel guilty, but somehow I don't think that's the case."  
  
Ryoko squeezed her eyes shut. It was the only part of her body that she had control off. She couldn't even wipe away her tears. She knew that this was all a trap for Tenchi, but she also knew that this was Hoshi's way of getting revenge on her for something she had no control over.  
  
*Washu...can you hear me?* Ryoko tried desperately to contact her mother. She had tried since she had awakened on the cold floor the first time and she hadn't succeeded, but that didn't stop her from trying again.  
  
*Washu, please...* She pleaded again, hoping someone would come and help her.  
  
Ryoko had never felt so much pain in her life before. She had been beaten, shot, stabbed, any variety of things, but this was beyond any pain that those things caused. She had never felt so helpless before in her life. Even when she was controlled by Kagato she wasn't bothered with guilt and anguish. She had never known what they were. But now she'd rather die than continue to lie on this freezing floor with no clothing in the same room with the disgusting creature that had just raped her.  
  
She didn't know what to do. And for possibly the first time in her life, Ryoko knew that she needed someone to come sort everything out for her. She knew she needed Tenchi.  
  
  
"There's the ship, Washu." Tenchi said, pointing to a large black shape orbiting the planet Jupiter.  
  
"What do we do now? We have to get onboard." Aeka said.  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem. He wants Tenchi's energy now, he knows what type of energy he's capable of producing. He'll invite us over. He will probably have energy reversing shields up at first, but I should be able to handle them with no trouble." Washu said, piloting Ryo-Ohki closer to Hoshi's ship.  
  
*Wa...shu...*   
  
"Ryoko?" Washu asked aloud, picking up Ryoko's faint telepathy.  
  
"What is it, Washu?"  
  
"It's Ryoko. She's trying to contact me."  
  
"What's she saying, Miss Washu?" Aeka asked.  
  
"I can't - I don't know. She's too weak. She can't force her telepathy through Hoshi's shields."  
  
"Is there anyway you can tell if she's alright?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"Well, also as she's contacting me telepathically, Tenchi, I'd say she's alive."  
  
"Well, well, well. It's about time you showed up." Hoshi face appeared on a communication screen.   
  
His deceivingly young looks that he presented on Earth had melted away to show the scarred face of a man who looked not much older than Tenchi himself.  
  
"Where's Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"Ah, I knew that's why you came. Ryoko's fine." Hoshi lied.  
  
"Let me talk to her." Tenchi demanded, losing his patience with Hoshi already.  
  
"That will have to wait until later, I'm afraid, but don't worry. I won't let Ryoko die before you get here. Feel free to board the ship whenever you'd like." Hoshi said before his image vanished from the screen.  
  
Tenchi clenched his fists.  
  
"Let's go." He said, looking over to Washu and Aeka.  
  
Together they nodded as Ryo-Ohki advanced on the ship once again.  
  


When the forest turns to jade,  
And the stories that we've made  
Dissolve away  
One shining light will still remain.  
When we shed our earthly skin,  
And when our real life begins,  
There'll be no shame  
Just the love that we have made  
Before time  


==========  
~End Part 3~  
  
Coming Soon:  
A Love Before Time: Part 4  
  
A/n: I wanted to save the battle for the last part for obvious reasons. I know a lot of you want to see Hoshi die in some way...maybe, maybe not. I'm definitely not telling.   
  
I just want to take the time to thank everyone that's been reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, although this part is very difficult to enjoy. But still, thanks for reading. You're reviews and emails are very much appreciated. ^_^  
  
  
  



	4. Part 4

**_A Love Before Time_**  
By: Tsuki no Miko  


  
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and the related characters belong to AIC, Pioneer, and other people.   
  
Author's Note: This is the last part to this story, hopefully. It will also probably be the last story I post for awhile. I'm sorry I've taken so long getting this chapter out, I've had a lot of other things to do.  
  
Also, I'm sorry for not warning you all more about the content in the third chapter. If some of you had actually read my note at the beginning, maybe I wouldn't have gotten some of the remarks I have received.  
  
Warning: Character death...I'm not telling who. =X And no, I'm not THAT obvious.  
  
A Love Before Time: Part 4  
By: Tsuki no Miko  
  
Getting onto Hoshi's ship was an easier task than Tenchi expected it to be, even after he invited them over. Maybe it was too easy.  
  
"This place is huge, Washu. Do you know where they are?" Aeka asked, glancing around the ship.  
  
Washu didn't answer at first. She simply stood in the hall as Tenchi and Aeka waited for an answer.  
  
"What is it, Washu?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"It's nothing." Washu said. "They're this way."  
  
Washu lead Aeka and Tenchi through the twisted halls of the ship which looked alot smaller on the outside.  
  
"Haven't we been here already, Washu?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"No, just come on." She said, never looking back at them.  
  
Tenchi and Aeka simply glanced at each other and followed once again.  
  
  
"They'll be here shortly. Its only a matter of their sense of direction now." Hoshi said, throwing a blanket over Ryoko.  
  
Ryoko tried to speak, but found it difficult to even keep her eyes open. She knew what was happening to her. Hoshi was draining her energy to use as his own. He knew as well as Ryoko did what Tenchi and the others had planned.  
  
Hoshi laughed as he looked down at her.  
  
"What a pathetic creature you've turned out to be. But you'll be finished off soon enough and in just enough time for your precious Tenchi to see."  
  
"Leave him alone." She barely whispered, trying again to raise herself off the floor.  
  
"And where exactly do you think you're going?" He said, pushing her back to the floor. "Sometimes its time to just quit fighting, Ryoko. It's a wise person who knows when they're finished."  
  
Ryoko didn't reply, her anger built inside of her, but the angrier she became, the pressure pushed her harder onto the floor.  
  
  
"Where are we Washu?" Tenchi asked, looking around a large hall.  
  
"This looks like a ball room." Aeka said.  
  
Washu didn't answer either of them. Her attention was focused on two figures across the room.  
  
"Well, well. You're here already." Hoshi said. "I'm impressed."  
  
"Ryoko!" Tenchi said, "Are you alright?"  
  
She didn't answer. She didn't even move.  
  
"What have you done to her!?" Tenchi shouted, advancing on Hoshi.  
  
"Don't." Washu said calmly, holding her hand up to stop Tenchi.  
  
"Washu?" Aeka asked, watching her curiously.  
  
"Let me handle this, Tenchi." Washu said, igniting an energy sword.  
  
Hoshi laughed.  
  
"You're going to fight me?"  
  
Washu nodded.  
  
"Fine, fine. Just remember that you don't have all of your power, she does." Hoshi said, grabbing Ryoko's wrist to expose her gems.  
  
"Stop talking Hoshi." Washu said, moving toward the center of the room.  
  
Hoshi grinned maliciously and walked to the center of the room, his own sword at his side.  
  
Aeka glanced over to Tenchi nervously, but Tenchi was watching Ryoko's lifeless form.  
  
"We have to get over to her..." He said absently.  
  
"Once they start to fight, Tenchi, we'll go get her." Aeka said, putting her hand on his shoulder.  
  
Tenchi looked at Aeka and nodded and they both focused their attention back to Washu and Hoshi in the center of the large room.  
  
Washu stood quietly, waiting for Hoshi to strike first. Hoshi smirked and swung his sword quickly at Washu's head. She easily blocked it.  
  
"You're going to have to do better than that." She said, quickly advancing on him, rapidly attacking him from all directions.  
  
Hoshi grimaced, barely keeping up with her attacks.  
  
"What's wrong, Hoshi? Its hard work when you have to fight instead of playing mind games, isn't it?" Washu said, pushing him back.  
  
"We'll see, won't we?" He shouted, flying toward her.  
  
"Let's go, Tenchi." Aeka said, grabbing his attention from the fight and pulling him across the room.  
  
"Where do you two think you're going?" Hoshi shouted, firing an energy blast at them.  
  
"Run Tenchi." Aeka said.  
  
"What about you?" He said.  
  
"Just go." She shouted at him as he ran toward Ryoko.  
  
Aeka quickly generated a shield around her just before the energy blast hit and sent her crashing into the wall.  
  
"Aeka! Are you ok?" Tenchi shouted as Washu attacked Hoshi again.  
  
"I'm fine." Aeka said, slowly standing up and running over to Tenchi and Ryoko. "Is she alright?"  
  
"She's freezing." Tenchi said, grabbing Ryoko's hand. "She's still breathing. We have to get her out of here. Aeka, help me move her."  
  
"She isn't moving, Tenchi." Aeka said.  
  
"Hoshi must still have some control on her. That means he's not using all his power to fight Washu."  
  
"She's barely holding him off as it is." Aeka said worriedly.  
  
"Don't worry, Aeka. I'm sure Washu has everything under control."  
  
  
"They won't be able to get her out of here. Not while I'm still alive." Hoshi growled, glaring coldly at Washu.  
  
"Then we don't have a problem, do we?" Washu said, gathering as much of her energy as she could.  
  
Hoshi scoffed and sprang at Washu, his sword piercing her side and tearing into her as she screamed.  
  
The energy she was gathering was released suddenly and Tenchi and Aeka were thrown back and knocked unconscious as the ship's bridge filled with thick, black smoke.  
  
  
When Tenchi awoke he found himself on the bridge of Ryo-Ohki. He slowly looked around, seeing no one.  
  
"What happened...?" He asked to himself aloud.  
  
"This did." He heard a quiet voice say to him.  
  
"Ryoko...you're ok now?" He said, as he got up and walked over to where she was leaning heavily against Ryo-Ohki's control panel.  
  
"Not really, Tenchi. But I've been worse." She said, keeping herself thoroughly covered with the blanket Hoshi had thrown on her earlier.  
  
"Where's Aeka and Washu?"   
  
"Aeka's over there." She said, pointing to Aeka's unconscious form on the other side of the ship. "She'll be fine."  
  
"What about Washu? Where is she?"  
  
Ryoko didn't answer him.  
  
"Ryoko, where is she?" He asked again.  
  
Ryoko still didn't answer him. All she did was press a few buttons on the control panel and the sight of Hoshi's ship - or what was left of it - flashed onto one of the view screens.  
  
"She didn't get out, Tenchi. Or if she did, I haven't been able to find her. Her link with me is gone completely. I don't think she made it, Tenchi. I really don't." She said quietly, falling back into her chair painfully.  
  
Tenchi only stood at the control panel, staring at the view screen of the ruined ship.  
  
"Hoshi was destroyed as well, obviously. She saved us Tenchi. We owe her more than to stand her and cry for her. Let's go home." She said, her voice quietening every time she spoke.  
  
Tenchi nodded as Ryo-Ohki sped up and headed back to Earth.  
  
  
By the time Ryo-Ohki arrived at Earth, Ryoko was unconscious and Aeka had learned of Washu's fate. Ryoko was carried into the house where everyone else learned of what had happened on Hoshi's ship.  
  
"Is Ryoko going to be alright, Tenchi?" Sasami asked, her tears overflowing and spilling down her cheeks.  
  
"I'm sure she'll be fine after she's gotten some rest, Sasami." Tenchi said, sitting on the couch.  
  
"Poor Washu..." Mihoshi said, bawling loudly.  
  
"I should have been the one fighting Hoshi, not her." Tenchi said.  
  
"Tenchi, she knew that you didn't have enough energy to defeat him." Aeka said, sadly.  
  
"But how did she have that much energy?" He asked.  
  
"The gems." Ryoko said, limping out into the living room.  
  
"Ryoko, you shouldn't be walking around. Go get some rest." Tenchi said.  
  
"You wanted to know how Washu had so much energy...The gems. She had them all gathered together on the bridge of that ship. She had her old powers back and that's how she was able to defeat him."   
  
"What are you talking about, Ryoko? Her old power?"  
  
"The gems are her's. Each has an equal amount of her power distributed throughout them. Her's is one of the greatest powers in the universe. She's why I was so powerful."  
  
Everyone just looked at Ryoko; confused.  
  
"Washu is a goddess of the Multiverse, Tenchi. These gems are her power. She gave them up twenty thousand years ago."  
  
"So she can't be dead." Tenchi said, hopefully. "If she is a goddess and her power's so great, she can't possibly be dead."  
  
"She's not dead, she was taken back by her sisters. Her power will be regenerated, but after that, I don't know what will become of her."  
  
"What about the gems? If they held her power and she doesn't have any, does that mean you don't either, Ryoko?" Sasami asked.  
  
Ryoko shook her head.  
  
"My power is reduced to my own power now. These gems are of no use to me now."  
  
"I wonder if we'll ever see her again..." Mihoshi said.  
  
Ryoko got up and walked back to her room. Tenchi got up and followed her into the room.  
  
"Ryoko..." He said.  
  
"What is it, Tenchi?" She asked, lying on her bed slowly.  
  
"Are you going to be alright?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I'll be fine, Tenchi. Will you be alright?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I know that you wanted to be the one to fight Hoshi. You wanted to be the one that saved the day."  
  
"I don't want to be the hero, Ryoko, if that's what you're implying."  
  
"It's not. I just meant that you feel that you had the obligation to be fighting instead of her. Washu knew what she was doing, Tenchi. She knew that she needed to be the one fighting him. She did what she felt was right and its not right to dishonor the choice she made with your feelings."  
  
Tenchi sat on the bed next to Ryoko.  
  
"I still can't help but feel that I should have been the one to die and not her."   
  
"And what would have happened if you had died instead. Where would Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi be? Where would I be? Washu saw the opportunity to save us all and she took it." She said, touching his hand softly.  
  
"I know you're right. I just can't agree with you..."  
  
"You will, Tenchi. Once time has had the chance to heal the wounds or the guilt that you feel, you'll see what I mean."  
  
Tenchi smiled at her.  
  
"When did you become so wise, Ryoko?"  
  
"I always have been, you're just now noticing." She said, smiling back.  
  
Tenchi held her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.  
  
"Get your rest, Ryoko. You need it after all that's happened." He said.  
  
Ryoko nodded, turning away from him.  
  
Tenchi got up and walked out of her room and quietly closed the door behind him.  
  
Ryoko laid on her bed in the dark, staring at the wall. Tears filled her eyes when she thought of what she had said to Tenchi and when she remembered what Hoshi had done to her.  
  
She decided to forget it all. Nobody in the house was going to find out about what she had gone through on that ship, just like they didn't know what had happened in her past. It was just another of her mysteries, and like her mother, she had many.  
  
She held her hand to her mouth and kissed where Tenchi had moments prior. She wasn't ever going to make him know. She knew what he was willing to risk for her and that's all that mattered, even if she knew, deep down, that he would do that for all of the girls. But he hadn't risked his life for all the girls, he risked it for her and that's all she would ever care about.  
  
============  
The End  
  
A/n:  
I know, I know!! This story took FOREVER! Sorry, sorry! I hope you liked this story anyway though...  
  
  
  



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